The Dallas Farmers Market is now in private hands and redevelopment could start as soon as this winter, the market's new owners announced Monday.

DF Market Holdings, LLC -- formerly known as the Farmers Market Group -- has purchased the downtown market from the city. In March, the city council unanimously voted to privatize much of the market's land and property.

The new management group is headed by real-estate developer Brian Bergersen, Standard Fruit and Vegetable’s Ruthie Pack, restaurateur Janet Cobb and her son Blair Black.

The group plans to build a 240-unit residential building, retail and restaurants and other amenities. Some construction will begin as soon as the winter, but the market will remain open for business during the renovation and remodeling period, according to the news release.

Bergersen, whose company was behind the Third Rail Lofts downtown, said in a news release that his goal is to make the farmers market "the premier destination for locally grown produce, the best food the city has to offer, live entertainment and urban residential real estate.”

Mary Suhm, the retiring city manager, likewise said in the news release that the group will transform the 73-year-old farmers market "into a vibrant, world-class exchange.”